After biting girl’s nose, service dog is in court

RIVER VALE — A 14-month­-old service dog accused of biting the nose of a 6 year old will be the subject of a municipal court hear­ing next week to determine whether the German shepherd is a vicious animal.

Ava is a service dog for 9-year­-old cancer patient Molly Kimball, trained to prevent Molly from falling whenever she shows signs of dizziness — a symptom caused by tumors inside her brain. Ac­cording to Doug Anton, an attor­ney retained by Molly’s parents, this was the first time the pooch has ever been accused of biting someone.

“This was a true accident,” An­ton said. “The highly trained ani­mal should not suffer, and more importantly, Molly, who relies on this animal after having six brain surgeries, and relies on the animal tremendously, should not suffer. This dog has become part of her family.”

The incident occurred in March, when Ava allegedly lunged towards Isabelle Gern­hardt, who lives next door to Mol­ly and her parents, Paul and Patri­cia. The dog bit Isabelle’s face and she sustained a large gash that starts on her forehead and runs down the bridge of her nose.

“The young lady next door, af­ter a year of knowing the dog, has a game of hide-and-seek [with Ava] and hid behind her mom’s legs,” Anton said. “The dog is trained to give a little kiss or lick when they find the person. It’s a weird situation. The dog was get­ting close, and was on a leash at­tached to a choker collar.”

Anton said that when the dog went to playfully lick Isabelle’s face, “the choker collar caused a restriction on the neck that causes the mouth to close.”

The lawyer was quick to add that “we don’t negate this happened, but if the dog wasn’t on a leash, it never would have happened because of the restriction of the throat muscles.”

Anton said he fully expects his clients will face a lawsuit over the incident. He said the dog is a firsttime offender.

But Isabelle’s mother, Elizabeth Gernhardt, has a much different version of the events that led to the more than 100 stitches it took to close her daughter’s wound. Gernhardt claims that her daughter has been afraid of Ava ever since November, when the dog nicked her son’s face.

Isabelle, who is allergic to canines, stays away from the dog, Gernhardt said, adding that her daughter was not playing with Ava.

“She has never played with that dog,” Gernhardt said. “[Ava] was unleashed and trespassed on our property. My daughter didn’t make any sudden moves. She won’t even pet the dog.”

Gernhardt said that on the day of the attack, Patricia Kimball ran after her unleashed dog, catching up to it in Gernhardt’s yard. Kimball allegedly leashed the dog, and the two women started chatting.

“My daughter was standing eight feet away and the dog just lunged forward and ripped most of her nose off,” Gernhardt said.

Isabelle has already had one surgery to correct the damage, and may need more soon. Doctors told Gernhardt it’s likely her daughter will forever live with the scars – both the physical and emotional ones.

“My daughter is getting therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder,” Gernhardt said. “This could have been prevented.”

Since the attack, Ava has been in a private shelter in River Vale.

Gernhardt said that her family loves animals and doesn’t want Ava put down. She just doesn’t want the dog returning to her neighborhood.

“If the judge declares the dog should be put down, that’s the judge’s decision,” Gernhardt said. “After 11 months of service training, a service dog should not lunge.”

Gernhardt said the incident has put a strain on what was an otherwise neighborly relationship with the Kimballs.

“It’s unfortunate this happened, but I want to live in a safe neighborhood, and I want to be able to be safe on my own property,” Gernhardt said. “If a dog can do this on a leash with 11 months of training, who’s to say what the dog would do off the leash?”